Officers abetting bribery, says Traffic Commandant Samuel Kimaru

Traffic Commandant Samuel Kimaru. (Photo:Standard)

By Cyrus Ombati

Nairobi, Kenya: Traffic Commandant Samuel Kimaru has accused senior police officers of abetting corruption.

Kimaru singled out OCPDs and DCIOs for failing to monitor and supervise their juniors, especially in the traffic department to contain the vice.

“I have written to the OCPDs and DCIOs to supervise their juniors but people are still taking bribes,” he said.

But he denied claims that the bribes taken on the roads end up in big offices in the service.

Kimaru said shortage of traffic personnel and bad roads are the major causes of the high rate of traffic related incidents.

According to him, there are slightly over 2,000 traffic personnel to man 2 million vehicles and 600,000 motorcycles in the country.

“Officers work extra hours but are not paid their allowances. It is a bad situation especially in Nairobi,” said Kimaru.

He made the remarks when he appeared before the vetting panel at the beginning of the third phase of vetting of 166 officers of the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police and Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police.

He was taken to task over what he had done to reduce accidents in the country. He said he was behind the banning of night travels by the Public Service Vehicles and the introduction of breathlysers. He added that road accidents have reduced by 40 per cent since the ban.

The head of Presidential Escort Unit, Edward Mbugua decried the poor living conditions of officers manning the President and his family and and urged the commission to urgently address their pay and allowances.

Mbugua urged the service to give officers in the unit free suits and laundry allowance.

Head of Interpol, Vitalis Okumu said drug barons compromise officers working in the Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU). Okumu suggested that all officers to be deployed at unit must be vetted.

Okumu who once worked as the commandant of ANU said drug trafficking had increased because of infrequent police raids.

“Such raids and subsequent arrests deter handlers and barons,” he said.

Nairobi County Deputy Police boss, Moses Ombati was was put to task over why he was transferred after he had recommended the same action for his junior, Beatrice Nduta when he was the commandant of Kenya Airports Police Unit.

Ombati said the action was to the discretion of the police boss and he was happy with the move.

Ombati had recommended that Nduta be transferred after they differed, but he was moved instead.

More than 30 senior police officers were vetted at the start of the third phase of the exercise in Nairobi.

The vetting panel intends to vet 166 officers by March 14. More than 30 others will be vetted tomorrow.

The vetting panel will be divided into four groups before they start the exercise at the commission offices in Westlands, Nairobi.

The vetting is expected to clean up the police force, which is listed as the most corrupt institution in Kenya by many surveys.

Vetting of police officers was among the more than 200 proposals of a commission set up following 2008 Post Election Violence.

The goal of the National Task Force on Police Reforms headed by retired judge Philip Ransley was to transform the service into an efficient and accountable security agency that Kenyans would trust with their safety and security.